UEFA Cup 2006–07

The UEFA Cup 2006-07 was the 36th edition of the European UEFA Cup football club tournament. On May 16, 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla FC won their second consecutive UEFA Cup final. After extra time ended in a 2-2 scoreline, Sevilla FC defeated RCD Espanyol 3-1 on penalties. Sevilla became the first side to win the competition two years in a row since Real Madrid achieved this feat in 1985 and 1986.

Early issues

Italian match-fixing scandal

The 2006 Serie A scandal resulted in major changes to the clubs that originally qualified in Italy. Originally, Roma took the cup winner's place as losing finalists in the 2006 Coppa Italia, as victorious Inter Milan finished in the top four and qualified for the Champions League tournament. The other two UEFA Cup places initially went to Lazio and Chievo.

However, Lazio, as well as the remaining three Champions League qualifiers (Juventus, Milan and Fiorentina), were formally indicted on 22 June on charges relating to the scandal. [cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2238023,00.html|title=Top Italian football teams charged with fraud|accessdate=2006-06-22|publisher=Times Online|language=English ] .

On July 14, all four of the indicated clubs were penalized by an Italian court and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Results of the FIGC appeal were announced July 25. The impact on the UEFA Cup was:
*Lazio were barred from European competition.
*Roma and Chievo were promoted to the Champions League.
*Palermo, Livorno, and Parma were granted Italy's places in the UEFA Cup.

Greek Football Federation

FIFA suspended the Hellenic Football Federation from all international competitions on 3 July 2006 because of "political interference in sport" after the Greek government passed a law, giving it control of the sports authorities in Greece. After the law was amended to address FIFA's objections, FIFA reinstated the HFF on 12 July. The Greek government in response, decided to withdraw all of its funding to the Hellenic Football Federation. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/5141866.stm]

Qualifying rounds

First qualifying round

These matches were held on July 13 and July 27, 2006.!colspan="5"|Southern-Mediterranean region
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-!colspan="5"|Central-East region
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-!colspan="5"|Northern region
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econd qualifying round

These matches were held on 8 and 10 August (first leg) and 24 August (second leg) 2006.

!colspan="5"|Southern-Mediterranean region
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-!colspan="5"|Central-East region
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-!colspan="5"|Northern region
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¹Due to the armed conflict going on in Israel, UEFA decided that no European matches could be staged in the country until further notice. Hapoel Tel Aviv's home match was moved to Tilburg, The Netherlands, Beitar Jerusalem's to Sofia, Bulgaria and Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv's to Senec, Slovakia (Bratislava region)

²These clubs qualified for this season's UEFA competitions as members of the Football Association of Serbia and Montenegro during the 2005-06 season but are currently members of the Football Association of Serbia which is the official successor of the previous football association. [ [http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/Kind=4194304/newsId=433131.html UEFA Magazine - Farewell to Yugoslavia] , by Aleksandar Bošković]

³Derry City are a team from Northern Ireland who play in the Republic of Ireland's football league. The flag of the Republic of Ireland is used for the purposes of official records as Derry City are a team representing the Football Association of Ireland.

First round

The matches were held on September 14 (first leg) and September 28 (second leg), 2006.⁴Due to the armed conflict in Israel, UEFA had ruled that European tournament matches could not be played in Israel until further notice. Maccabi Haifa's home leg on 14 September was moved to Nijmegen, Netherlands. On 15 September, UEFA [http://www.uefa.com/uefa/Keytopics/kind=64/newsId=457461.html lifted the ban] , allowing future matches to be played in the Tel Aviv area. Hapoel Tel Aviv were able to play their home leg on 28 September in Tel Aviv.

⁵UEFA ordered Trabzonspor's home leg on 14 September to be played behind closed doors after objects were thrown at visiting fans and the fourth official, and a smoke bomb ignited in the stands, during their second qualifying round home leg against Cypriots APOEL. Trabzonspor appealed, and UEFA rejected the appeal on 13 September. Trabzonspor's penalty includes a second closed-doors game, a penalty which has been deferred for two years and will be removed if no further incidents occur.

Group stage

Tie-breaking criteria

Based on paragraph 4.06 in the UEFA regulations for the current season, if two or more teams are equal on points on completion of all the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings:
#superior goal difference from all group matches played;
#higher number of goals scored in all group matches played;
#higher number of goals scored away in all group matches played;
#higher number of wins;
#higher number of away wins;
#higher number of coefficient points accumulated by the club in question, as well as its association, over the previous five seasons (see paragraph 6.03 of the UEFA regulations).

Key to colors in group tables:
*"Green:" Top three places advance to the round of 32.
*"Red:" Bottom two places are eliminated from European competition.

Group A

Group D

Group G

"(KEY: Pts= Points; Pld= Matches Played; W= Matches Won; D= Matches Drawn; L= Matches Lost; GF= Goals For; GA= Goals Against; GD= Goal Difference)"

Knockout stage

Round of 32

The first leg was held on February 14 and 15 February 2007, while the second leg was held on 22 February 2007.

¹ On February 7, the Italian Government ruled that Parma and Livorno's home fields did not meet requirements following riots held after an Italian Serie A match in Sicily. Livorno played its home leg behind closed doors on February 14. Parma played its home leg behind closed doors on February 22.

² On January 19, UEFA declared that Feyenoord had been thrown out of the competition after crowd misbehaviour in their final group stage match against AS Nancy. UEFA announced on January 25 that Tottenham Hotspur had received a bye. In the final appeal this was confirmed.

Round of 16

The first leg was held on 8 March 2007, while the second leg was held on 14 and 15 March 2007.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the final stages, included quarter-finals and semi-finals, was held on Friday, 16 March 2007 at 1:00pm CET in Glasgow, Scotland. The quarter-final matches were played on 5 April and 12 April 2007.

emi-finals

The semi-final matches were played on 26 April and 3 May 2007.

Final

footballbox
date=2007-05-16
20:45 CEST
team1=Espanyol flagicon|ESP
score=2 – 2 (a.e.t.)
report= [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/fixturesresults/round=2370/match=300100/report=rp.html (Report)]
team2=flagicon|ESP Sevilla
goals1=Riera goal|28
Jônatas goal|115
goals2=Adriano goal|18
Kanouté goal|105
stadium=Hampden Park, Glasgow
attendance=52,000
referee=Massimo Busacca flagicon|SUI

penshootoutbox
penalties1=Luis García penmiss|saved
Pandiani pengoal
Jônatas penmiss|saved
Torrejón penmiss|saved
penaltyscore=1 – 3
penalties2=pengoal Kanouté
pengoal Dragutinović
penmiss|over crossbar Daniel Alves
pengoal Puerta

ee also

*UEFA Champions League 2006-07
*UEFA Intertoto Cup 2006

References

External links

* [http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/UefaCup/index.html Official Site]
* [http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19070.pdf Regulations for current season]